Miami (March 20, 2013).- The president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Jaime Mantilla, sent notes to 19 presidents and government leaders in the Americas, and to 33 Western Hemisphere diplomatic representatives before the Organization of American States, in which he expressed concern at the so-called process of reforms to and strengthening of the Inter-American Human Rights System, final discussion on which is scheduled for Friday (March 22).
The notes signed by Mantilla, editor of the Quito, Ecuador, newspaper Hoy, were addressed to the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States and Uruguay, and to the prime minister of Canada. They were also sent to the ambassadors and diplomatic representatives before the OAS from Antigua, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Following is the text of the document:
“On behalf of the editors and journalists of the Americas, affiliated with the Inter American Press Association, I have the honor of addressing you concerning the process of reforms to which the Inter-American Human Rights System is being subjected, with particular attention on the functioning of the Inter-American Commission on Human rights and on the performance of the Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression.
“It is important to underline, in view of the above, that the regimen of guardianship and guarantees of human rights contemplated by the Charter of the Organization of American States, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, as an authentic interpretation of these instruments, is based on the principle of primacy of the dignity of the individual human being. Thus it is that, within contemporary democratic culture, that is to say democracy itself, the Rule of Law, human rights, and among these, freedom of the press, are rights of persons, not concessions made by governments, which must respect and guarantee them.
“The Inter American Press Association is concerned about the behavior of some governments of the region interested in consolidating regimens opposed to the separation of powers, democratic changeability, free initiative of persons, fluidity of public opinion as an element of control of the functioning of institutions of the State and to transparency, for which effect they promote “communication hegemony of the State” and persecutes the press and independent or critical journalism.
“Within this context, such governments seek to condition their political and financial support of the OAS and its agencies, among them the Inter American Commission and the Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression, including them in their proposal for reform. The attempt is being made to transform them into vehicles of mere promotion of rights, subordinating their tasks of reception and recognition of denunciations of violations of human rights for which the states themselves are responsible, at the same time that they try to put a price on procedures of adoption of preventive measures of protection that the Commission demands of the States, in order to assure, in cases of urgency and gravity, the right to life and personal integrity of victims in general and, specifically, those of journalists.
“We cannot rest in letting you know that the initiative proposed, even while the IAPA is aware that international organizations are eager to meet the challenges presented by new global realities, has in this case as its ultimate object to affect the ethic, intellectual, and democratic patrimony that serves as the basis of the entire Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights.
“Next March 22, 2013, as you well know, there will be an Extraordinary General Assembly of the Organization of American States held for the purpose of considering proposals on the mentioned process of reform of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression as well.
“As a consequence, I respectfully invite you to consider the aforementioned statements while at the same time I manifest to you, on behalf of the editors and journalists of the Americas, that the IAPA will be constantly vigilant of any initiative to weaken the competencies of the Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression and the organization under which it functions, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. They are fundamental bastions for the defense of democracy as a right of the peoples and freedom of expression as its backbone.”
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
